


Something Better

by skippingmud



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Gen, Pokemon Fanfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 05:25:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17359844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skippingmud/pseuds/skippingmud
Summary: A ride-hailing app driver gets a gym leader as a passenger.





	Something Better

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in response to a prompt that wanted to see how a real-world, everyday job would work in the Pokemon world. Said recipient also liked Burgh, so here's the result!

“Hi, someone called for an Accel driver?”

“Yeah, he’ll be here in a couple of minutes. Do you mind waiting?”

_Yes_ , I almost said, but this was my last ride for the day, and it was a long one: Castelia to Nacrene. That should put me over my quota. And besides, I wouldn’t want any other Accel driver to get this booking. Or worse, have an Escab driver take it from me…

“Nah, I can wait,” I said to the security guard. “If you don’t mind, I’ll let my Trubbish out of his ball for fresh air.”

“Go for it. Your passenger’s still fixing his things for the trip.”

I gave an affirmative nod as I let out Burt, who made a long sigh as he looked at the tall buildings and the people on foot, on bikes and on cars surrounding us. Castelia always seemed like it was in a hurry, and all those rushing passengers made it a great way to fill out my quota. Unfortunately, all the other ride-hailing drivers thought so, too. So there were either too many passengers or too many drivers when it came to Castelia.

Two minutes turned to three, so I took out my pocket notebook and began tallying all my rides for the day. As I suspected, this last one was enough to meet my distance quota. Many of my passengers today were stingy with tips, so here’s hoping this last one would break that pattern.

Four minutes turned to five, and I wondered what was taking this passenger so long. They had booked a ride from the Castelia Gym to the Nacrene Gym, so I assumed it was one of those overachieving trainers completing their badge quests.

“Weird that they want to challenge another gym this late at night,” I told Burt, who only smiled at my musings. “Wouldn’t the gyms be closed by now?”

Many of my passengers that day were trainers just like this one, trainers far younger than I was who asked for rides between gyms. Those were always the easiest bookings—they’d go on and on about their battle and I’d just pretend to care. I’ve learned to tune it out after the hundredth time.

But this ride was going to be a first, in more ways than one.

“Ah, that’s a cute Trubbish you have there!”

I turned to thank whoever complimented Burt, but my gratitude got stuck in my throat. In front of me was none other than Mr. Burgh, Castelia’s gym leader. He was wearing his signature green-and-red outfit, even the black-striped red pants and the red-striped green shoes. Behind him, the security guard that acknowledged me earlier was carrying a bunch of easels and paint buckets, with another guard carrying even more drawing materials, from sketchbooks to paintbrushes to pencil cases. 

“Uh, th-thanks, Mr. Burgh,” I said with as much respect as I could muster. “Y-you’re, uh, you’re done with your gym duties for the day?”

“Yessir!” he said with too much energy. “And now I’m headed to Lenora’s place! I’ve been hit with the old-fashioned artist’s block again, so I think a change of surroundings is in order!”

_Wait, Lenora’s place?_ I said to myself. _Does that mean…_

“Can you open up your trunk?” he asked. “I don’t think all my things will fit inside the car.”

“Y-yeah, of course,” I managed to cough out. I was still trying to comprehend that the Castelia City gym leader was going to be my passenger that I didn’t notice Burt approaching him and playing with one of Mr. Burgh’s shoes.

“Burt, don’t—” I began, but the security guard handed me a bunch of bags to load into the car, keeping me from doing anything.

“Aww, that’s so cute!” I heard Mr. Burgh say to my Pokemon. “You like these shoes, huh? They always seem to catch the eyes of Pokemon.”

Burt hummed happily in reply, much to my relief. Unfortunately, his playing left Burgh’s red-and-green shoe covered in Trubbish grime. 

“Alright, Burt, back in your Poke Ball,” I called out quickly. “I’m s-sorry he messed up your shoe, Mr. Burgh. I’m really, really sorry—”

“What, don’t call him back!” Mr. Burgh cried out. “I just got to know him! Burt, you say? What a lovely name! Can’t he join us in the ride?”

“Oh, uhmm, sure, w-whatever you want, Mr. Burgh,” I blurted out.

The car’s trunk was filled to the brim with luggage full of art supplies, and his easels and canvases had to be jammed into the back seat. That only left the front seat for Mr. Burgh. So not only will I be having a gym leader for a passenger for the first time, he’ll also be sitting next to me.

“Is everything loaded?” he asked the security guards, to which they gave a synchronized nod in reply.

“Sweet!” he said. “Let’s go—Oh, what’s your name again?”

“A-Al,” I stammered out. “It’s Al.”

“Alright, Al. Let’s get going!”

* * *

Mr. Burgh was as animated of a passenger as I was expecting him to be. No, scratch that—he was even more animated than I thought. It turned out I didn’t have to worry about creating any discussion points in the two-hour drive between Castelia and Nacrene. 

The first thing he told me was that he had been using ride-hailing apps for a while now, saying it was more convenient than having to hire a driver. “I couldn’t pass on using them. They’re named after two of my favorite Bug-types, after all!” he added, although he unfortunately said he used Escab more than Accel. I reminded myself to add that to my daily report.

He also talked a lot about his art projects. He was mentioning how he had new ideas for the layout of his gym, how he wanted to do something with silk and cocoons. “And I was imagining this whole collage of color for my room,” he described. “Like, splashes of different colors on the walls. It would look magnificent!”

So yeah, he took care of all the discussion points by himself. Well, most of it.

“Art, it’s a great way to unwind, you know?” he was saying while we were driving through Skyarrow Bridge. Burt was laying on his lap, enjoying the frequent pets he was getting from his new friend. “Being a gym leader can get hectic, so it’s nice to go back to something that both soothes and challenges me. You get what I mean?”

“Uhh, y-yeah,” I said. I’d been getting by with nods and mm-hmms for the whole ride. “Driving’s kinda the same, I guess. It can get difficult, but it also calms me down.”

“M-hm, exactly!” he said with such glee that it scooped out any drowsiness I had left in my body.

“Hey, how about you?” he suddenly asked as we exited the bridge. “What’s up with your life?”

“Me?” I said, preparing my usual answer to the question. “Well, I’ve been an Accel driver for a few weeks now. And it’s been great. The income’s not bad, and at least it’s steady.”

“What was your job before?”

I’ve had a lot of answers prepared for that question. I usually said I was a waiter in a restaurant in Accumula that closed down, or a miner in Driftveil’s caves. When I was feeling extra creative, I’d say I was a former badge quest trainer that fell out of love with his journey and decided to pursue something less stressful.

But this time I went with, “This is my first real job, actually.” Which was the closest to the truth.

“Huh, interesting!” he said. “And this little cutie, he’s been with you ever since?”

I glanced at him, and he was holding up Burt, who enjoyed being carried up.

“Yeah, since I was 11,” I said, truthfully.

“A starter Trubbish!” he suddenly shouted. “You don’t hear that all the time. Why didn’t you pursue the badge quest?”

“Uhh…” was all I could blurt out. It was a complicated question, or at least one that was hard to work around. Because I did pursue something, but it was the exact opposite of a badge quest.

“Uhh, well, it just didn’t seem appealing to me, that’s all,” I finally replied.

“Hm, that’s odd,” he said, his hand on his chin. “Because the way you talk to Burt and the way he acts, it feels like you’ve been training him for years.”

He was right, but it wasn’t the training he was thinking of. It was something much less ideal.

“That’s a real honor coming from you, Mr. Burgh,” I managed to say. 

“So yeah, what’s up?” he pursued. “All I know about you is that you’ve been a driver these past few weeks and you’ve had Burt since you were 11. There has to be something big that happened in between then and now, right?”

_Yes_ , I mentally answered. _Something very big. And very wrong._

“I’d, uh, I’d rather not talk about it,” I said. 

“Oh,” he said, continuing to observe me. It was a bit unsettling, so I kept my focus on the road. Pinwheel Forest wasn’t the easiest area to drive through in the night, so it needed my full attention anyway.

“Mmm…” he started after a few moments. “Was it bad?”

“Very,” I said almost automatically.

“Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” I should’ve ended it there, but then I blurted out, “It’s all mine, really.”

“Hm? Why would you say that?”

“Huh, w-well…” I began, but knew it was something I didn’t really want to bring up. And not to him, of all people. “N-nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Hmmm…” he said, still observing me. “Alright then.”

All I heard in the next few minutes were the car’s engine, Burt’s soft growls, and the cries of wild Bug Pokemon outside.

* * *

“You have really nice hair, you know?”

Mr. Burgh’s compliment caught me off-guard. We were just about to exit Pinwheel Forest, and I almost hit the curb when he said that. Not only was it the first thing he said after an unusually long period of silence, but no one’s ever said nice things about my orange hair. Most of the passengers who did point it out said it was weird at best and an eyesore at worst.

“Thanks, Mr. Burgh,” I replied.

“Is it natural?” he asked. “It’s such a nice shade, like a sunset, or leaves in the autumn."

“Nah. All my team—” I stopped before I realized what I was saying. “Uhh, I mean, all my friends before had it dyed this color, so I followed suit. And I liked how different it looks, so I kept it.”

“It’s certainly different!” he said. “I can’t really think of anyone else with that hair color.”

I wished he didn’t think too hard about it. But of course, he did.

“Oh, wait, that’s not true!” he blurted out. “I’ve seen that hair color before, and—”

He ended that sentence with a loud gasp that woke Burt up from his nap. Mr. Burgh looked at me like he’d just figured out a puzzle—a really bad one. Of course, I’ve revealed too much, and I had no one else to blame but myself. As always.

“You’re…” he began, his tone much more careful. “You were one of them, weren’t you?”

I nodded in reply. No use in denying it anyway. _Way to go, Al_.

“But that’s in the past,” I quickly followed up. “I’ve moved on, I swear.”

“And… this Pokemon…” he said, looking down at Burt.

“I didn’t steal him, I swear,” I said, my hands firmly gripping the steering wheel. “He’s been with me since I was 11, that’s true. I had to hide him from my teammates, too. I didn’t want them to take him away from me.”

“How did you join them?” he asked, almost ignoring my reply. He was staring at me with a mixture of anger, confusion, and discomfort. Mostly anger.

“I believed in their cause,” I said, truthfully. “I didn’t think Pokemon were supposed to be used for battling. But I didn’t expect to have to… to have to steal in order to further that cause.”

“And how did you leave?”

It was a question I expected, but he said it with such force that it still caught me off-guard.

“Well, after what happened in the Pokemon League, you could imagine that a lot of us would leave after what Lord—after what Ghetsis did there.”

“I can,” he said, his eyes closed and his hand back on his chin. “I was there, you know? I’d been asked by Bianca to stop you, and I was with the other Gym Leaders.”

“I remember,” I said. “I remember it like it was yesterday. It was your Leavanny that defeated my—I mean, the Scrafty I stole.”

I felt his cold stare after I said that. I couldn’t bear to look at him, but I could feel it. It was like he was bringing back all that regret and fear and anger that I thought I’d already gotten over. But of course I hadn’t gotten over it. If all those trainers—those victims—couldn’t get over what happened, what more someone who helped make it happen?

“But all that’s behind me now, I swear,” I said, forcing myself to keep my eyes on the road. I could already see Nacrene City from where we were, thankfully. I wanted this ride to end, for both of us.

“It’s something I deeply regret doing, but it’s something I know I can’t change,” I continued rambling, like a door within me had opened after a long time of forcing it shut. “And it hasn’t left me, really. I told you this was my first real job, which is true. It took me almost a year to get up and move on from what happened. My wallet’s empty after that, but that’s nothing compared to all the bad stuff I’ve brought onto so many trainers.” 

He was still staring. I still couldn’t bear to look at him, but I could feel it. And it hurt.

“And hey, at least I’m an Accel driver now,” I continued, my hands already hurting from how hard I was gripping the steering wheel. “It’s not much, but it’s something else. Something better.”

I heard a gasp from him after that. I took a quick glance, and he had set down Burt on the floor and reached for his bags at the back. He opened and closed several zippers until he pulled out two objects: a pencil and a sketchbook. He then turned to a blank page and started drawing.

“Wha...what are you—”

“Shh!” was all I heard from him, and that was that.

* * *

The rest of the trip remained that way. I kept on driving, and he kept on drawing. Burt had managed to climb up to the dashboard after he was put down, but when he tried to take a peek at what Mr. Burgh was doing, the gym leader wagged his finger in disapproval.

Nacrene was as quiet as I expected it to be, seeing as it was already 11 in the evening. There were a few people outside, but the only building lit up was the Pokemon Center. Even the Nacrene gym didn’t look like it was open until I parked right in front of it. And amazingly, Mr. Burgh stopped sketching the moment I closed the engine.

“Thanks for the ride, Al,” he said casually, almost like the last 30 minutes didn’t happen. “I’ve already paid through the app, right?”

“Y-yeah,” I stammered out. “Thanks for choosing Accel.”

“Can you stay for a bit? The guards will take a while to unload all of my things.”

“Yeah, s-sure.”

True enough, two security guards who looked very similar to the ones in the Castelia gym came out and started bringing Mr. Burgh’s items inside. I saw Mr. Burgh was talking to Mrs. Lenora, the city’s gym leader, and Mr. Hawes, her husband. It seemed like this was a usual setup for them, Mr. Burgh staying in with the couple in his trips to Nacrene.

It took a good three minutes before all of Mr. Burgh’s things were brought in, and I saw that he was still talking with the couple. I thought about approaching him to say a quick goodbye and another quick thank you, but I didn’t think he wanted to talk to me after what he’d found out. No one ever did.

So I wished Burt good night, recalled him in his Poke Ball, and started the car.

Not even ten seconds passed by when I heard loud knocks on the passenger door. I looked out to see Mr. Burgh waving at me with a piece of paper in his other hand.

“Wait! Don’t go yet!”

I set the car on neutral and stepped out, confused at what else he’d want from me.

“You wouldn’t leave without getting your tip, right?” he said with a smile as he handed the piece of paper to me. “So here!”

“Th-that’s too nice of you, Mr. Burgh,” I started. “But I don’t think I deserve—”

“Of course you do!” he said. “That was a very eye-opening ride, Al. I’ll definitely use Accel more often because of it.”

“That’s...that’s great to hear, Mr. Burgh,” I said, still confused. “Thanks again for choosing Accel, and I hope you have a good night.”

“You too!”

He gave a final wave as he ran back inside the gym. I waited for him to close the door before going back into the car.

As I sat down, I unfolded the piece of paper Mr. Burgh gave to me. Out came several Pokedollar bills, probably worth 100,000 Pokemon Dollars, that just fell on my lap like they were nothing.

But what was more intriguing was the piece of paper itself, which looked like the pencil sketch he had made earlier. The drawing was in black and white except for my hair, which was colored orange. I was carrying Burt, who looked like his usual cheerful self. I was leaning my back on the car, and I looked happy. Unusually happy.

It took me a minute to notice that the car’s tire was running over a headpiece with the insignia of my old team, and that Mr. Burgh had written something in the lower right corner on top of his signature.

He wrote, “I hope you keep pursuing better things.”


End file.
